Henry V Open Letter
I had to read Henry V in my English class for a project. This project to be exact. I picked this book because it was about war and I knew a little about Henry V. I wouldn’t recommend reading this book mainly because it is a play by William Shakespeare. The book is very difficult to read because the English in the book is very different than what we speak today.
Henry V was about a young King wanting to claim back some property that his family had lost a long time ago. He goes to France, who claim the land as theirs, and shows his evidence. France, obviously, doesn’t accept what he has shown them and they basically refused to give it to him. The thing is Henry really does not want to go to war without good reason. He was informed by his counsel and given the reasons he should go to war. A man named Canterbury explains to him why the land is his. There is a document that the French interpreted wrong and that gives Henry the authority to that land and to do with it what he pleases.
War is still very relevant in my life today. My dad served in the Navy for 6 years. Fortunately, he is still alive and well today but there are many families that who are not as lucky as me. You see on the news all the time a soldier has died in battle or captured. My cousin actually went to Iraq and fought right in the middle of where everything was happening. He doesn’t like talking about all of the things he saw and even the thing he had to do. He’s done things no person should have to do, but he did it to protect my rights and I am forever grateful for what he did. I thank him every time I see him. He has influenced the way I think about people like him. They are all heroes to me.
To anyone that thinks war is superficial. You don’t know what war has done to so many families around the world. I bet you don’t know that 189,000 people died directly because of the Iraq war, but does not count the total of 655,000 people who died. I bet you didn’t know that 134,000 civilians were killed. These are people not even involved in what is going on. They are like you and me, except they had to live in a place filled with carnage and death. It makes you think, maybe it was for the better. They didn’t have to suffer through what was happening around them anymore. Then again you can’t say that. You’re taking away a life, and you can’t give that back to them once all the bad stuff goes away. They’re gone.
We need to inform people on what war really is. There are no winners and losers in war. It’s not superficial. These are real people risking their lives. And for what? Why them? Why not you and me. People will sit and not care about what that man or woman is doing for our country but they won’t lift a finger if asked to do anything even remotely close to what that person does every day. If you aren’t going to take part in what it is you should at least respect what those people are doing for you.
The book kept stating over and over about England and how the people that go to war are respected and looked up to. Today we have war veterans sitting homeless on the side of the street with nowhere to go. I think today’s America could take something from England back then. War is not something that should be seen as no big deal. People’s lives are at stake. In the war, and even when they return home.
